St Mary's AllGirls Catholic College
by megabouncer
Summary: Konata is being sent off to AMERICA to study there at an all-girls Catholic college ... can that be any MORE depressing? However, little does she know that Kagami, Tsukasa, and Miyuki are going to the same college! Romances erupt! Dark plots form! R&R?
1. An AllGirls College?

Uuuuuh yeah. Takes place after they finish high school; now, by coincidence, all four of our favorite characters are in the **same college in America.** (Some coincidence, hunh?) Hilarity, romance, etc ensue!

My first time writing something like this. (hope you don't kill me for it.) 

**Chapter One: An All-Girls College!**

_August 15_

_Konata's POV_

Konata wasn't exactly a girl who had a very clear vision of her future. She didn't know what she wanted to do once she got out of high school; heck, she _was_ out of high school now, and _still_ she was stuck.

As she blasted up a couple of aliens on her computer, she thought back to what her father had told her a week ago: he'd gotten a really good gig in America, and he wanted his beloved daughter to go with him there as he finished the gig up (which might take a couple of months.)

Konata sighed and put down the game controllers, then shut off the XBOX360 with a halfhearted press. She was, beyond all other expressions, _completely bored_ of America. She'd been here for a couple of days, and she was _already_ worn out.

_Probably the jet lag_, Konata decided, then got up and stretched. The blue-haired girl looked around her rather depressingly small room. Though it was outfitted with a rather pleasant bathroom and had a very soft bed, it was crammed full of comics she'd acquired at the airport and in the nearest comic book stores she'd managed to visit once getting to Massachusetts. Konata had to give _some _props to those Americans, though: they had a very interesting style of drawing and creating their comics.

With a cat-like grin to herself, she picked up an unread stack of mail sitting in the corner of her room. Brushing off any dust that might have collected on the surface, Konata glanced at each of them uninterestedly. Her father had stupidly agreed to sign a few contracts online, getting sucked into those "FREE WII!" deals and such, which resulted in him getting a load of junk mail.

As Konata flipped through each of them, her interest caught on some cursive writing. Intrigued, she pried open the mail and read its contents.

_Dear Miss _KONATA_,_

_ We would like to cordially invite you to attend St. Mary's All-Girls Catholic College for your freshman year. The verdant hills, peaceful lakeside view, and easy-to-learn-in atmosphere is perfect for exchange students. We have recently opened up a program for students coming in from different countries, including China, Japan, Korea, Africa, Canada, the United Kingdom, and, of course, North Dakota. _

_ St. Mary's is a college for gifted students who may excel in certain areas, including academics, athletics, gaming, cleaning, domestic work, the arts, and special abilities._

_ You will find attached in this letter a copy of your required books if you do decide to choose St. Mary's. The monthly fee for the school year is a rate of a mere $50, as compared to our previous price of $1,000. Feel free to consider our request, but we would like a response by August 20th. _

_ This is an extremely rare chance! St. Mary's rarely invites exchange students; most apply through a tough auditioning session. Please consider our college!_

_Sincerely, _

_Njiu Dothie_

Konata had to read this several times before she could completely absorb what it meant. Her mouth had gotten progressively wider as she continued down the letter (it was written in both Japanese and English.) Even before she was done, she was completely convinced it was a prank. Probably planted by her father, she decided, scoffing at herself for actually genuinely believing the letter in the beginning.

Without a second thought, the blue-haired girl set it out on the kitchen table.

**A FEW HOURS PASS**

As the day went by, Konata did nothing but stare at the opened letter. Surely enough, there was an attached letter for the list of required items, which were all very unorthodox.

"_Gaming_ was a _special talent_?" Konata mumbled to herself. "Oh, Kagami would have a field day if she found _that_ out." Grinning cattishly at the thought of her green-haired friend, she leaned back in her chair and narrowed her eyes at the letter.

"Mmmmm..."

Her fingers twitched; she was tempted to log on and send an email to this Dothie person, just for laughs. Plus, she had nothing better to do. And her father _did _leave her a generous amount of money for the rest of the year to live off of, just in case the university _was_ real ("Thank that man for considering how much I want new mangas!")

Konata shrugged to herself and was about to log online again when her phone rang. The vibration in her pocket was hard to miss; Konata reached inside, dug around, then withdrew a rather battered-looking black cellphone.

"Hello?" Konata pressed the phone against her ear.

"Konata? It's me, your dad. Sorry, I'm in a hurry, but if you find a letter from a St. Mary's – well, I signed you up for it, and it's supposed to come in today, and I wanted to surprise you with it once I got home, but then I found out that I didn't have time to get home since I'm going away for half the year to this scenic mountain place that has a bunch of MOEEE little girls, so take care and go there, it's not too far away, you can just tell the headmistress of the place you don't know where it is in an email, okay, is that alright, love ya bye."

With those words, Konata's dad hung up. Konata wasn't as surprised by the fact that he said it all in one breath as much as it _was_ her dad who signed her up for this. She was suspended in complete shock for a couple of heartbeats, then she slunk in an L-position on her chair. Groaning, she slapped a small hand over her face and took a few deep breaths.

What the hell did her father do?

**SIXTEEN DAYS LATER**

_September 1_

_Kagami's POV_

Seriously, what the flying monkey was her father thinking? Sending her fraternal sister and herself to America was shocking enough, but _this_? And she wasn't even frickin' Catholic! Plus, _Tokyo frickin' University _had accepted her – so what the hellfire were her parents thinking! At least in Japan Kagami could contact her friends – but America? No way. She didn't even understand English that well. Sure, the green-haired girl knew enough to get by, but not enough to _study in a frickin' Catholic university in Massa frickin'chusetts_.

Kagami had to grip the iron pole of the fence to avoid hurting someone near her. That someone happened to be Tsukasa, who was equally frightened. Her pale complexion didn't seem to get any better ever since the two were shipped off to America to continue their studies. Kagami forced out a big-sister smile and wrapped her left arm around Tsukasa's shoulders.

"Don't worry, Tsukasa – I'm sure we'll be fine. I'm certain this is all some mistake and the stupid headmistress will realize that this idiotic school of hers is – ooh, hello there Miss Headmistress!"

Kagami was cut short in her rant by the untimely appearance of the headmistress herself. The two sisters were lingering by the large, foreboding gate that barred the entrance to the rather grand-looking university. Kagami's fist tightened around the iron she was gripping and her left arm instinctively tensed; her eyes narrowed, not knowing what to expect from this new arrival.

"Hello there, girls!" The headmistress said in rather fluent tones of Japanese. She smiled at them. The headmistress, Mrs. Dothie, had lazy curls of red hair that trailed down to her waist. She also possessed a childish splattering of freckles across her face, along with bright green eyes and a warm aura about her. Kagami was surprised at her youngness, but she didn't let her guard down; she was still wary of this rather queer school: _gaming was a special talent_? Konata would have a legit field day if _she _found out.

"Don't be shy, come on in!" Mrs. Dothie insisted, forcing Tsukasa's rather unwilling hand into a handshake. Kagami thanked the heavens the woman didn't turn around to give _her_ a handshake as well.

"Aw, it's always the transfer students who're the shyest … just follow me, I'll give you a quick tour of where your section of the university will be. Don't worry, you can drop your bookbags on the ground there, a runner will come by to pick them up and plop them in your appropriate dorms. During the day, a school representative will give you a more thorough tour."

Without waiting for the girls' assent, Mrs. Dothie turned around and rather curtly began walking toward the school building. Lingering on the threshold for moment longer, Kagami sighed and followed the headmistress' lead. "We might as well go, Tsukasa," she mumbled to her sister. "It's not like we have anywhere else to stay …"

"Yeah, I thought it was rather mean of mom and dad to not rent us an apartment," Tsukasa admitted with a sheepish smile at her older sister. Kagami smiled sadly at her sister then picked up her pace.

The two entered the university.

The doors of the university were impressive enough themselves; they were embroidered with gold plates, and the St. Mary's coat of arms (a hawk attacking a large rodent with flames erupting out of its eyes) was in the middle of it. Kagami estimated that the door was about twenty feet tall. With a shiver, she averted her eyes from the grisly coat of arms and looked around at the interior of the university.

There was a velvet rug on the floor, and the walls were decorated artistically with many beautiful, breathtaking paintings and framed pieces of digital art. Kagami could almost accept living here if it meant being in these amazing conditions. _And it's only fifty bucks!_ She thought to herself, almost appreciating the low price. Almost.

Tsukasa was likewise impressed. As they progressed down the hall, Kagami noticed the many expensive pieces of furniture stacked up neatly against the walls. They were crafted with extreme talent; the minute details were enough proof.

"This is the south entrance hall," Mrs. Dothie said without loosening her pace. "There's a north entrance hall, an east entrance hall and a west entrance hall. Our school resembles, from a bird's eye view, a rather large addition symbol."

The trio made a left turn, entering a large atrium-looking place. Mrs. Dothie stopped abruptly and Kagami nearly bumped into her. Scowling at the woman's lack of tact, she was about to curse in Japanese when her breath caught in her throat: she'd just noticed that this area was actually a dining hall, and students were eating here. At first, Kagami was confused at why they weren't talking; then she noticed that they were reading books, studying, writing, catching up on late homework; even Kagami was impressed by how diligent these kids appeared to be.

"This is the dining hall," Mrs. Dothie said unnecessarily. "The students are forbidden to talk today, but only because it happens to be Monk Breakfast; that means nobody can talk for breakfast. Anyone who makes a noise will get their eating utensils taken away, then their napkins, then their chair." Tsukasa giggled at the silliness of this special breakfast, and Mrs. Dothie smiled at her. "Yes, it's rather funny, but it keeps the students looking forward to what tactics we'll be up to next."

They continued down the dining hall; Kagami felt her face flush a dull red as all of the students turned around to stare at them as they walked toward the other end. She heard a couple of light whisperings from a clump of girls to her left. Without preamble, Mrs. Dothie stepped toward them and took knives from each of them without hesitation. The girls groaned and began plucking at their bacon with their fingers. Kagami instantly felt some gratitude toward the headmistress; she sure did stick by her rules.

Finally, they were out of that dining hall. Kagami let out a pent-out breath of relief, barely noticing her surroundings as Mrs. Dothie led them toward a grand flight of stairs.

"I'm afraid we'll have to part ways here, girls," Mrs. Dothie stretched her skinny arms out and nodded at the stairs. "Just go up onto the second floor, then the dorm room marked "22" is for you, Tsukasa. Kagami, your room is number "27". We'll sort things out soon, don't worry. All the transfer students are supposed to be in the same room, but I'm afraid we're mixing up the specialties this year. That means that if you happen to major in cleaning, you might get sorted in with a dorm of foreign-exchange gamers and athletes." Mrs. Dothie took out a slip of paper from her breast pocket and glared at it.

"Tsukasa, I'm aware that your specialty is … uh, cooking, right?" She looked up critically, softening when Tsukasa nodded rather tearfully at the prospect of not sharing a dorm with her sister.

"Don't worry, you'll still see each other a lot. Alright, it appears that you're going to be bunked in with another girl from Japan who's specialty is in the academic field, along with a cleaner from Egypt. Your dorm head, a girl who's supposed to be taking care of the foreign exchange students, is Martina Gleefield. She's from Massachusetts, and she's a nice girl. Martina specializes in athletics."

"A – am I supposed to go there _now_?" Tsukasa asked with a quiver in her voice. Mrs Dothie smiled and nodded.

"Don't worry, Tsukasa; I'm sure they'll be friendly. They're up in their rooms, organizing their beds and whatnot. You can head down to breakfast with Martina once you're ready." Mrs. Dothie handed Tsukasa a small brass key, then patted her on the shoulder. Kagami felt a bristle of protectiveness, but that died away as Tsukasa ran up the stairs with dainty steps. Mrs. Dothie watched Tsukasa leave for a moment before turning to address Kagami.

"Kagami, you're going to be bunking with four others … it just so happens that two of them have yet to appear, and I doubt they'll be here all week since they're on a leave, but your dorm head and the other exchange student are here already." She glanced at the slip of paper. "You're with a girl from Japan (wow, lotsa Japanese kids this year) who specializes in gaming," - Kagami was forcibly reminded of Konata - "along with a girl from China and a girl from India. The Indian girl brought her guitar, and the Chinese girl is extremely skilled with drawing.

"Your dorm head is Lily Lee, and she's from New York … nice girl, nice girl. All of them are quite nice. I don't think Lily's up there right now, since she's got kitchen duty, but the other Japanese girl'll be there. Here." Mrs. Dothie handed Kagami a brass key. "Run along, now."

Kagami watched as Mrs. Dothie turned around and left the scene, mumbling to herself for some reason. With a shrug, the green-haired girl walked up the stairs, rather dreading to see who this gamer girl would be … probably some fat loser. Fit gamers like Konata were extremely rare.

Kagami bit her lip and walked up another flight of stairs, finally arriving on the second floor. She saw a line of black doors, each marked with a white number drawn in paint. Cocking an eyebrow at this less-than-grand appearance, she paced down the aisle with a hammering heart. First impressions, first impressions …

Kagami put a hand on the doorknob of room 27. With a deep breath, she yanked the door open.

It took her a moment to absorb what she saw.

The room would have been considered large, complete with another door to her left, and rather beautiful, if it weren't for the messy clothes strewn all over the place. A brown suitcase was open in the middle of the carpeted floor, and its contents were pretty much everywhere. It looked like somebody stuffed the suitcase in a microwave and allowed it to explode all over the place. There were five beds; two were off to the side and extremely close to one another, while the other three were placed seemingly randomly off to the side.

However, _this_ wasn't the strangest part. There was a small girl crouched in the center of the room, her back to Kagami, next to the messy suitcase. Blue hair trailed down to the floor, and she was muttering to herself, apparently playing on some sort of game console that Kagami couldn't see because of her position.

Kagami stared at the back of the girl and the mutterings ceased. Dumbfounded, Kagami watched as the blue-haired gamer girl turned around with a cat-like grin that was _so familiar_ -

"K … K …"

The two girls locked eyes with open mouths for over a full minute, then Kagami grasped the reality of the situation.

"KONATA!" Complete giddiness, battling with outright confusion and anger at the messy interior of the room, won: she ran toward the girl and cleared the distance easily enough, then her confusion struggled for dominance. "What the – what're you -"

"I could be asking YOU the same thing!" Konata said with a widening grin. She dropped her DS Lite onto the ground, abandoning her Pokemon battle, then stood up. Kagami was pleased to note that the girl was still shorter than her, though Konata had, surprisingly enough, grown a a tiny bit; still, it wasn't enough for their eyes to be even to one another.

"Wait – don't tell me –" Kagami's face turned rather blue. "Don't tell me that _you're_ my dormmate!" She backed away in some horror, though she had to fight to conceal her happiness: finally, another familiar face! Though it was something extremely unexpected (understatement of the freaking CENTURY), she still welcomed it.

Konata's cat-grin had widened to such an extent it literally stretched from ear to ear. "Apparently so! Isn't it awesome! I never thought that _you'd_ be my nerdy roommate!" Her mouth opened slightly into a rather retarded-looking lopsided grin. "Tell me I'm dreaming!"

Kagami instantly got angry, though she was pleased even at this: Konata hadn't changed. She grabbed Konata's cheeks and pulled as hard as she dared without ripping the flesh off. "Is this enough of a pinch?"

"Oww …" Konata pulled away and sulked off in a corner, completely forgetting her DS game. "That hurt … as expected from a tsundere, though. I'm sure you're secretly happy with my appearance, right?" The blue-haired girl asked slyly, turning her head around to face the flabbergasted Kagami.

"W – what? Of course not!" she lied blatantly. "You're more of a hindrance than anything! This way, I won't be able to focus on my studies!" Kagami grumbled, crossing her arms. Still, a hint of a smile lingered on her face. "But getting serious … are you serious?" She asked, allowing her arms to drop to her sides. "I can't believe it!" 

"Me neither," Konata admitted, then sat down on the messiest bed of all; there were cables falling off the bed, and onto the sides and pretty much everywhere. "To think that Kagamin would be my roommate … this is like a dream come true!" Konata had a malicious glint in her eye. "This way, I'll be able to copy all I want and I wouldn't get in troub -"

Before the otaku could finish her sentence, Kagami had leaped forward and proceeded to finish her previous endeavor: tugging off Konata's little cheeks.

"Say that again and I swear to _god_ I'm going to prove you're dreaming!" Kagami threatened. Konata tried saying something smart-alecky, but her response was lost in the gurgling as she tried to form words through horizontal lips.

Kagami let go and sighed deeply. "Still, this _is _news to me. I didn't know you were in America. I didn't even know you were Catholic!" Kagami revised her thoughts of Konata almost completely: this girl had a _lot _of sins to pay for.

"But I'm not!" Konata responded, rubbing her red cheeks defiantly. "My stupid dad sent me to America since he got a new gig, and I tagged along, only to find that he enrolled me at this school!" Konata shook her head, her cheeks beginning to flush their normal color again. "It's nice seeing a familiar face again … it's like old times! All we need is Tsukasa and Miyuki to complete the picture."

Kagami was forced to grin. "Well, about Tsukasa_ …"_

"Wait, don't tell me." Konata closed her eyes, then rubbed her eyelids. "Holy cow! That means we're only missing Miyuki! Amazing!" She shook her head, trying to take in this revelation. "But we have to get down to business … where'll you be sleeping? A runner already brought your suitcase up, it's in that corner," - Konata pointed to her left where Kagami's blue suitcase was - "and this is my bed." She patted the messy bed. "Do you want to sleep near me?" She asked with a rather sly undertone.

"Huh?" Kagami looked at Konata's bed. Surely enough, there was another bed right next to it; it'd be easy for any of the occupants to crawl over into one another's mattress. "WHA! Are you kidding me? No way!" Kagami objected, but she was secretly kicking herself repeatedly in the crotch for rejecting Konata's offer. But why? Shouldn't she be happy she wasn't sleeping anywhere _near_ that abominable ball of blue hair? Or should she be kicking herself? Konata _was _a bit of a prankster at times … she might slip a cockroach in her bedding if she wasn't aware.

"Fine, suit yourself," Konata said, apparently trying to shrug Kagami's decision off with faked sadness. However, was it just Kagami's strange mind, or did she detect a sense of real rejection? Kagami regretted her choice even more. Kagami shrugged internally, then sat down on the bed farthest away from Konata's. Instantly, she sprang up; she'd sat on a living thing! A writhing, LIVING thing!

Shrieking, Kagami backed away and pretty much fell on Konata. She noticed dully that it was a mouse, who now scurried away frantically, but she was more aware of the fact that she'd slammed her back into Konata's chest.

"Owwwww!" Konata moaned from underneath Kagami's messy double ponytails. Face redder than a tomato, Kagami got up into a sitting position, rubbing her head.

"S – sorry about that …" Kagami apologized, then noticed that Konata's hand was pressed down on her stomach; the awkwardness of Kagami's fall had resulted the two of them to be tangled up in a rather pretzel-like shape. Kagami tried to force her flush down, but to no avail; her face still resembled a tomato. With a sunburn.

Konata suddenly grinned, then crossed her leg over so she was sitting on Kagami's lap. "Haha, just kidding. That didn't hurt too much. Aww, your face is all red!" Before Kagami could react, Konata tugged on Kagami's nose. "Poor widdle Kagamin is embarrassed!"

Despite herself, Kagami's face got even redder, if that was physically possible. It now looked like a sunburned tomato with red face paint on. "H – hey!" She shouted, anger trying to battle away her embarrassment. It wasn't just her fall that made her embarrassed, though; she was acutely aware of the fact that Konata's warm legs were pressed against her own, and that Konata's face was inches from hers, and that Konata's breath was -

"Get away from me, you little freak," Kagami said, looking away. She pushed Konata off, but instead of toppling over, the blue-haired girl managed to bounce athletically away.

"Hehe," Konata said with that cattish grin again. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that _you're_ getting turned on!"

"What!" Kagami exclaimed, more out of surprise at Konata's rather accurate guess than fury at a wrong statement. "Hey! I'm just embarrassed from that fall, you lil' horn dog!"

"You sure are moe when you're angry," Konata plowed on, not ceasing in her teasing. Kagami and Konata exchanged a couple of retorts, but Kagami had to admit one thing to herself: no way in hell was she sleeping in a bed with freakin' _rats_.

"But … is it okay if I _do_ sleep near you?" Kagami asked, almost desperately. "It's not because … well, you know!" She proclaimed. "Only 'cause I don't want to be raped by mice when I'm asleep, y'know."

Konata's green eyes gleamed. "Well, you might have to worry about a certain _other _person raping you at night, then …"

"Oh, shut up!"

**Yeppers, that's the end! Hope you liked this first chapter … second one should be coming in a week :D Please review! Those little comments might not take much effort, but they mean a lot to me.**


	2. An Unpleasant Encounter

Oooooohhh my flippin' gawd it's been like a month and I haven't updated D: Sorry about that. (I actually wasn't expecting even one review tbh haha.)

Well, here goes, it's a bit rushed, but I hope you like it! :) School is a bit hectic so yeah.

And about the lilac hair thing … yeah, I just caught up on that :/ I was thinking too much about Wally from Pokemon and you know he has green hair …

Excuses, excuses! Let's get on with it! Also, my keyboard broke down a couple of weeks ago and I had to wait a long time to get a new USB keyboard for my crappy little computer … w/e, though! Here goes!

Also, since I need a few in-depth side charries (OC's) for my plot, it'll be great if you could PM me with an OC of yours. It can be a professor or a student, doesn't matter. If you're interested, just add that on in your review (if you choose to review, that is.) I'll elaborate on that if enough people have their interested piqued :? Cause I don't want to make up a bunch of people for this plot haha xD;; (Lazy lazy me.)

And _I WARN YOU – LOTS OF NEW CHARACTERS. THERE WILL BE FIVE NEWCOMERS, SO BEWARE! DDD:_

I didn't proofread it yet, so … .

**Chapter Two: An Unpleasant Encounter**

_September 1_

_Kagami's POV_

Kagami sighed as she put her stuff out neatly at her bed. Konata kept sneaking her very suggestive, shut-eyed glances, as if saying "_I've got you now~!"_ with her body language. Kagami refused to meet Konata's eyes, and instead focused very seriously on her unpacking.

After their exchange, Konata had told Kagami more about how she wound up in this college. Kagami had also elaborated on the recent year of separation that happened; she waxed eloquent on her hatred of her parents' stupid decision. Konata had listened with the correct amount of anger and empathy. Then it had settled into a rather awkward silence as Kagami began taking her clothes out and arranging them in a drawer by her bedside.

Finally, Konata forced Kagami to look up by coughing very loudly and obnoxiously. "So. What's _your_ major?" Konata asked.

Kagami had to think for a while before she got what Konata was asking. _Of course! Even this weirdo school must have majors and minors – and if it doesn't have any minors, I should at least be able to pick a double-major course. _

"I'm pretty sure it's in academics, but I haven't really chosen my field of study .. I was looking into psychology as a possibility. I don't think I'm going to have a minor or a second major. You?"

Konata had to blink several times and concentrate before she was able to absorb what Kagami was saying. "Oh! Yeah. They assigned me to gaming as a must, I think, but I'm not too sure if I'll be able to get specific or anything."

There was a moment of silence, then Kagami burst out with raucous laughter. She grasped at her stomach, out of breath, then pointed at Konata as she wheezed with laughter. "Gaming! Gaming – oh, of course, of course!" She took a few deep breaths, then began to gradually calm down. Konata crawled into a corner and began sulking.

"Alright, fine, if that's how you take me," Konata murmured in a beaten-puppy sort of manner. Kagami shook her head, wiping tears of ecstasy from her eyes.

"No, it's just that … well, it's so _typical _of you …" Kagami shook her head again, now regaining her cool. Konata had also regained her composure and sat down next to Kagami.

"Well, I was surprised that I actually got accepted into a college," Konata had to admit. "I thought that I'd end up like those basement otakus who lived off of chips or something and get really really fat …" Konata shivered at the thought of it.

"Hey, that's not nice!" Kagami said, mostly because she was still rather conscious about her body image; after graduation, she had went to quite a few gyms to work out, even though her parents and friends had assured her she wasn't fat. At all. Then Miyuki had to remark that yes, she _was_ a _little_ chubby around the cheeks -

Kagami quickly pushed that unpleasant memory away, then shrugged to herself. _Why does it matter, anyway? Your self-worth shouldn't be based on your weight … _

Konata grinned. "Well, well, well! Look who's talking here, little miss fattycheeks!"

Kagami grabbed her pillow and slapped Konata in the face with it. The blow propelled the blue-haired girl across the room, slamming her into the opposite wall with a crack.

"Say that again," Kagami said darkly, eye twitching. Konata cowered and shirked away, but the otaku still smirked.

"Getting down to business …" Kagami set the pillow down and sighed, looking downwards. "Should we check the place out? I'm a little confused … is our dorm head or something supposed to be here to help us out?"

Konata looked around absently, rubbing her bruised head with a small hand. "Uh, I think, I -"

Just at that moment, the door slammed open. The two Japanese girls turned their heads around to face the new arrival, who was silhouetted against the light pouring from the hall outside.

The newcomer stepped inside. She wore glasses, possessed salmon hair, and was decked in the optional uniform for the school; she looked vaguely lost, and was escorted with a girl with short lilac hair.

"M – Miyuki!" exclaimed both girls at once. Tsukasa, who was with Miyuki, grinned and shoved in a rather confused-looking Miyuki. Upon seeing Konata and Kagami, the girl's face broke into a giant grin.

"Oh, my god!" Miyuki was embraced by Konata's rough tackle, then by Kagami's more sisterly and gentler hug. "I don't believe it! What a coincidence!"

Kagami shook her head, emotions swirling all around in her head – Miyuki was here, and so was her sister and Konata – this was too big of a coincidence to be true.

"What happened?" Kagami eagerly demanded as Konata realized how Tsukasa was there as well and began glomping her.

"Well, it's hard to explain," Miyuki said with an apologetic smile, "but it all boils down to how this mysterious woman called my mom and convinced her into sending me all the way to America."

"That's amazing, I bet it was Miss Dothie -"

"Tsukasa, you're gotten a little taller -"

"So how were _you_ … ?"

Questions and joyous statements whirled around the room. Kagami was filled with excitement; if all of her friends were here, then going to this college might not be that bad. Kagami secretly allowed herself a highfive for not accepting Tokyo University and instead going along with her parents' wishes; if she really forced herself, she didn't have to go. But this was way more than she bargained for.

Suddenly, in the middle of Konata's heart-thumping description of a new game she unearthed called "Runescape", another person entered the room.

All four girls looked over, Konata cutting herself off in midspeech.

This new girl was a rather tall one, a bit skinny and lanky. Bleached orange hair trailed down to her shoulders in lazy curls, ribbons adorning them fashionably. She wore the uniform just like Miyuki, and her eyes were a deep, dark brown. Judging from her physical features, she was eastern Asiany.

"Oh, hi," The stranger said, not fazed at all by the fact that the four girls were just speaking rapid Japanese. This stranger spoke in English, and Kagami was sure that only she and Miyuki could barely grasp at what she was saying.

"H – hello," Kagami said, a little flustered. Konata was squinting at the new girl rather openly, her right hand gripping her chin as she examined the girl from all sides.

"I'm Lily," the Asiany girl said, closing the door behind her. "I'm your dorm head … that's strange, I thought there were only two exchange students this year," she said with a cocked head. "Maybe I'm not getting this image right -"

"Oh, no, sorry," Miyuki quickly said in surprisingly fluent English. "We're from the other dorm, we just came in here to visit. We're very sorry if we're causing you any trouble."

"Oh!" Lily said, relief washing over her features. "Oh, that's good, then. But I think you guys should go to your right dorms, since your dorm head is getting quite frantic in there," Lily explained, laughing. Kagami chuckled nervously along.

Miyuki nodded to Tsukasa, then left the room after a quick goodbye to Konata and Kagami. Kagami didn't know what to say; she didn't know any English that would help her in this situation. All she could do was stare at Lily in silence and hope that she didn't ask any questions.

"You guys are from Japan, right?" Lily asked abruptly. She'd bent down at the mouse-bed and was pulling out a hidden suitcase from underneath it; apparently she'd come into this room earlier and staked her claim already. Kagami wondered if she should tell Lily about the mouse problem.

"Y – yes," Kagami managed to say, hoping her pronunciation wasn't _that _bad.

"Oh!" Lily seemed to be racking her brains; then, after what appeared to be a long, painful moment, she managed to say in broken Japanese, "I'm sorry about that … you two will be having English for a class. The teachers are amazing." She stopped, then laughed.

"I only took Japanese for four years, and it's been some time since I've spoken it, sorry." Lily stuck out a gloved hand for the two girls to shake. "I'm your dorm head here. If you have any questions, come to me. I'm a senior at this – this -" She frowned, then settled on, "school."

Kagami smiled, a little less tense, then shook Lily's hand. Konata did so as well, and Kagami had to stifle a chuckle at how quiet Konata was in the face of new authority.

"A guide should be here soon," Lily said in Japanese, walking over to the door. "I have to go to my first period. Don't worry, your first day will be fun!" With those assuring words, she left the room with a pair of gym shorts in hand.

Kagami turned to Konata. The two looked at each other, then, at the same time, they both sighed very pointedly and slumped to the ground.

"Wow … what a day," groaned Kagami. "I feel so _old_. College! Man …" She sat up and tugged on Konata's t-shirt sleeve. "Hey, we better get ready to go … Konata? Konata!"

Konata's eyes were shut, and her face had turned curiously pale. Panicking, Kagami leaned over Konata and shook her. "Hey, hey! Are you okay?" When Konata didn't respond, Kagami's heart raced. _Are you serious? _

"Damn!" Kagami patted Konata's face desperately. "Respond, Konata, dammit!"

"Ka – ga – mi -" Konata managed to choke out; her face was losing more and more color. "Lean – in -"

Kagami did as she was bidden, then two things happened at once.

For one, the door slammed open for what seemed to be the fifth time that day.

Two strangers walked in; one had an olive complexion and was carrying a hard guitar case and a large duffel bag. The other girl had paler skin, and she was toting another guitar case over her back. She wore a bulging fanny pack along with an overpacked backpack, and she was in the middle of talking to the other girl.

The other thing was the whisper Konata gave Kagami.

"Gotcha!"

Kagami and Konata both looked at the two arrivals, and the two arrivals looked at them with frozen faces. There was a short moment of silence, then the two stepped inside and the duffel bag girl closed the door with rigid movements.

Kagami then noticed how awkward her position with Konata was; for the second time, they were in an embarrassing pose. After all, Kagami _was_ rather red-faced and she _was_ leaning over Konata with the expression of a maniac. Konata, on the other hand, was grinning.

"Uuuuuuuuhhh ..." Fanny-pack girl said, obviously trying to break the icy silence. "Soooooooooo … hello there."

"Th – this isn't what it looks like!" Kagami suddenly exclaimed in Japanese, leaping away from Konata. She then realized her mistake and hurriedly said in English, "this is misunderstanding – uh ..."

"Oh, right, we were bunking with transfer students!" Duffelbag said, slapping herself on the forehead. "It's a misunderstanding, okay, I guess we just walked in on an inopportune moment -" then she continued rambling in rapid English, saying things that Kagami couldn't understand. Fannypack listened, and laughed when Duffelbag was done.

Kagami felt very self-conscious, but Konata didn't seem to be affected. With a "heh-heh", she leaned in toward the two foreigners and grinned widely.

"I hope you guys won't badmouth us too much," Konata said abruptly in perfect English, "though I do understand that you're confused about our sexualities … there's something called horsing around, man, horsing around!" With a quick laugh and an "a-ha!" look at the surprised faces of Duffelbag, Fannypack and Kagami, she whirled around to speak to Kagami.

"How – how did you learn to speak in English?" Kagami asked breathlessly, getting less angry at Konata for tricking her by this new revelation. Konata hid her secret beneath a secretive "hmmph".

"Let's just say some of the games I play are very instructive," she said mysteriously.

_What kind of games is she talking about? _Kagami wondered. _Never mind, I don't want to know._

"Uh … sorry?" Duffelbag said confusedly, earning a giggle from Fannypack. "Look, I'm really sorry if we insulted you, a'ight, man?" She shrugged and chose a bed. Fannypack took the last remaining bed.

"My name's Nelly Patel," Duffelbag said simply. "And my friend here's Gwendolyn Wen -"

"_God_, Nel, it's _Gwen_ -"

"Okay, okay -"

The two girls laughed again.

Kagami blinked and quickly caught herself. "Uh, I'm Kagami."

Konata avoided looking at Duffelba – _No, _Kagami corrected herself_, Gwen and Nel._

"Konata," Konata said quietly, turning back to her games, apparently rather unsettled by something.

"Oh, cool," Nel said. "Look, we're sorry about before, okay? Is it alright if we call you Kaggy and Koh? Neat!" Without waiting for their consent, Nel and Gwen began talking again, occasionally sneaking glances at Konata and Kagami but refraining from giggling.

Kagami decided she didn't like Nel and Gwen that much.

"C'mon, Kagami," Konata said to her, "I guess we better go off and see how Tsukasa's doing ..."

Before Kagami could tell Konata that they weren't allowed to, Konata had dragged her out of the room and into the hall. Only then did Kagami see that Konata was seething with barely restrained anger. It was the first time she'd seen Konata this worked up; Konata had balled her fists, and was mumbling curses.

"Whoa, what happened?" Kagami asked, concerned.

"Those two little -" Konata frowned even deeper and took a deep breath; she calmed down a little. "Well, nah – I probably shouldn't tell -"

"Konata, what did they say?" Kagami pressed, starting to gain more hatred for the two.

"Well – it's embarrassing -"

"Honestly, Konata, I'm surprised _you _can get embarrassed, of all people."

"Alright, fine!" Konata said, acting uncharacteristically annoyed and frustrated. "They used a really bad American slang word for gays, alright?"

Kagami's eyebrows disappeared beneath her bangs. She had to lick her lips a little before responding, not sure how to react. "W – whoa. That's horrible. Wait – do they think that – that _we're_ -"

Before Kagami could arrive at that shocking conclusion, Konata had pulled her away, still muttering to herself.

"I probably shouldn't have told you that," Konata said, still mumbling, "but they just make me _so mad_ – I hate people like that," Konata continued in her ranting. The two turned around a corner. Kagami's thoughts were too muddled for her to make heads or tails of the situation.

Kagami was just about to ask Konata where they were going when they bumped into someone.

"Oh, sorry," Konata said before the other could say anything. Then she stopped mumbling as the other person dropped the cloth she was using to wipe her gun onto the rugged floor.

Wait a moment.

A gun?

The girl was about Kagami's height, maybe a little taller. She had lightly tanned skin and slightly sleepy-looking hazel eyes, though her right one was covered with an eyepatch, not unlike a pirate. She was carrying a large pistol in her right hand, and was apparently wiping it with a cloth before she bumped into Kagami and Konata.

Kagami's heartbeat began picking up; this girl wasn't wearing the uniform; she decked in a peculiar outfit. She wore baggy black jeans and a ragged hoodie. Her black hair trailed down to her waist, reminding Kagami of a certain artist back in Japan, but her hair was … messy. It was messy and unkempt.

Kagami then realized that she could be in serious danger.

Before the gungirl could say anything, Kagami had run in front of Konata and pushed the smaller girl behind her. "Hey, Konata, run! I'll try to hold her off!"

"Uh, Kagami -"

"Go! What're you thinking?" Kagami tried pushing Konata away to safety, but she didn't move, seeming slightly amused.

"Kagami, I think she's a student here -"

"Huh?" Kagami turned around. Surely enough, the gungirl had tucked away her gun and had taken out a thick leather booklet. She flipped the booklet open, revealing the college's coat of arms along with a set of numbers underneath it, scrawled in black ink.

The gungirl put her badge-thing away carelessly into her pocket, then nodded slightly, as if trying to reassure Kagami she was not a threat. She then picked up the cloth and walked down the hall in the opposite direction.

"Who are you?" Konata called after her, unfazed, though Kagami sensed a strange emotion from her; that emotion went away soon enough, though, and Kagami had to wonder if it was all just her imagination.

The gungirl turned around slightly, but didn't stop walking. Her response was quiet.

"Seah ..."

"See ya?" Kagami repeated once the gungirl was out of sight. "Did she just say goodbye in slang English? I don't get it … also ..."

The obvious dawned on her.

"WHY THE HELL WAS SHE CARRYING A GUN!"

"Calm down, Kagami, I'm sure it was just an airsoft one," Konata said airily.

Kagami grabbed Konata's shirt and began shaking her like a ragdoll. "Calm down! _Calm down!_ I swear that was a real gun, no way it could be fake! Really!" She set down a befuddled Konata, who tottered around and slammed into a wall. "Why do I get the feeling you'll tell me to chillax if a serial killer began terrorizing this college and was holding Tsukasa hostage ..."

"Well, about _that_ ..."

Kagami shook her head and slammed her fist down on Konata's head. This earned her a whimper from the blue-haired girl. "Oh, just shush … this overload of new faces is making my head spin around on my shoulders … I don't even know where we are. Do you?"

Konata looked around, then her eyes widened for a fast moment before becoming sleepy again. "Oh!"

There was a quiet, then -

"No, I don't ..."

Kagami's eye twitched again.

"What the heck are we supposed to do!"

**I bet you're ready to scream at me for introducing so many new characters, right? xD**

**An awkward ending … I swear, for every chapter now on, it's going to end on a quote.**

**Don't worry, the plot will actually start next time ^^; **

**You can look forward (or shiver in dread) for the next one, which'll be coming in a couple of weeks. (Literally. Two weeks or so.)**

**And I'll keep my promise this time! :3**


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